Houston-area public schools CTE programs
Public school districts in the Houston Gulf Coast-area offer numerous CTE programs to students with a variety of interests. CTE (Career and Technical Education) provides students of all ages with the academic and technical skills, knowledge, and training necessary to succeed in future careers. The rigorous CTE standards prepare these learners for the work world by providing hands-on academic experience and introducing workplace competencies.
According to the Texas CTE Resource Center, there are currently over 120 programs of study covering each of Career and Technical Education’s 16 Career Clusters. The system of Career Clusters is used as an organizing tool for curriculum design and instruction, and it provides the essential knowledge and skills for CTE Career Pathways. It functions as a useful guide for creating individual student education plans. The system helps students discover their unique interests and passions, and it empowers them to choose an educational pathway that can lead to greater success in high school, college, and career. The 16 CTE Career Clusters include:
Architecture and Construction
Arts, A/V Technology and Communications
Business Management and Administration
Education and Training
Finance
Government and Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality and Tourism
Human Services
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security
Manufacturing
Marketing
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Transportation, Distribution & Logistics
Some Houston area public schools are career academies, sometimes called “theme academies” or “early college”, which follow similar curriculum as CTE classes. In some cases they allow students to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate degree.
When searching for successful Career and Technical Education in Houston Gulf Coast-area public schools, parents and students are invited to examine the many CTE options available, which compare to online high school and K12 school programs, but with more hands-on experience. Public school CTE can offer students a comprehensive set of skills and experiences designed to give them an advantage after graduation and into the future.
Additional benefits to students involved in CTE programs:
- Career and technical education offers benefits beyond job training for high school and college students; it offers enrichment for students interested in entering a broad range of fields.
- CTE jobs are in demand. According to the U.S. Manufacturing Institute, the industry will need to fill more than three million open positions over the next decade, as many as two million of which will go unfilled due to a skills gap and shortage of technical education.
- CTE students are more likely to graduate.
- Students achieve in other subjects. Students at schools with highly integrated rigorous academic and CTE programs have significantly higher achievement in reading, mathematics and science than those who attend schools with less integrated programs.